JANUARY 21, 2018
At Friends for Health in Haiti we highly value those people and organizations that choose to partner with us so that we are able to accomplish our mission of improving health and changing lives in Haiti. We’ve been privileged to have visits from many of these partners, as they contribute their time, energy and financial resources to help us out in our work.
Earlier this month we had a visit from Patrick Harrington and his daughter, Anna. Patrick is the founder and director of a non-profit organization called Project Agua, dedicated to helping improve the availability of water and sanitation in needy communities around the world. They have helped dig wells and build latrines in the Dominican Republic and are now beginning to help out in Haiti.
Patrick and Anna pose for a photo outside our clinic.
Patrick and Anna visited some local water sources to see how the springs have been capped, making water accessible to hundreds of people. Patrick enjoyed getting up close and personal with the water!
Patrick checking the flow of water from a capped water source
They also went out into some local communities to see the latrines that we’ve built as well as hurricane houses. Project Agua donated chlorine tablets after the hurricane as well as funds that were used for hurricane relief.
Anna visiting a family whose house was built with tin and nails that FHH provided. On the left is our community worker Viel Laurent.
Patrick and Anna were able to visit also with Ellie Olander, a fourth year medical student from the Medical College of Wisconsin who’s with us for the month of January.
Ellie being introduced at the beginning of a clinic day
All three of our visitors helped us with a continuing education seminar that we held with our second set of Community Promoters. These promoters were trained in May 2016 by faculty and students from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Their educational activities in the communities were interrupted by the hurricane of October 2016. Now, they are back on track again and we had them come to the clinic for further evaluation, feedback and training. The most enjoyable activity of the day was having the Promoters do role-playing, as they gave an educational lesson with the rest of the promoters acting as “students”. The “teachers” were impressive as they responded to the “student” hecklers.
Promoter team teaches a lesson using the Promoter’s booklet with illustrations
Promoter group poses for a photo with Patrick
When one lives in Haiti or visits here, you never know what might confront you on the road up to the clinic in the morning. Such was the case when we found the road blocked by a large bus that had overturned the night before, blocking the road to all but motorcycle traffic. Or, so we thought.
crowd had already gathered around the overturned bus.
We stood around talking with the locals until a local truck driver suggested that we might be able to squeeze our jeep by the overturned bus. So, try we did, balancing between a steep drop-off on the right and the iron roof rack on the bus to our left.
We aborted our first try when it was obvious we couldn’t get the back of the jeep past the iron roof rack of the bus.
The first attempt was unsuccessful, so I backed up the jeep, hugging the side of the road on the right and, with guys holding down the roof rack of the busy, made it past with only a couple of small scratches to the jeep. Needless to say, the 60+ patients who were waiting for us in the clinic that day were thrilled!
One group of men held the roof rack down as others pushed the top of the jeep away from the bus, allowing us to finally pass.
Once I got past the obstacle, I got down from the jeep and gave everyone a huge thanks!